Footprints in the Sand
by StarShinobi
Summary: "If the world is made of light and darkness… we'll be the darkness." What if Sora and Riku had decided to stay in the Realm of Darkness? A quick one shot from Kairi's POV about her life after KH2 and how even living in different dimensions couldn't keep these three apart.


So, I had an idea for a fic, so I thought I would just shoot off this little drabble. Hope everyone likes it! It is inspired by Riku's quote at the end of KH2 and I wanted to write a little fic about what would have happened in Kairi's life if Sora and Riku had stayed in the Realm of Darkness. I have not played any of the games beyond KH2, so please keep that in mind. I may have also blurred some details to make this fic work ^_^

Disclaimer: Everything Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix, Tetsuya Normura, Shinji Hashimoto and their fantastic team.

* * *

"If the world is made of light and darkness… we'll be the darkness."

-Riku in _KH2_

* * *

Had it really been ten years?

Had they really been gone that long?

Kari sat on the beach of the island…_their_ island…watching the waves gently caress the shore. They created a calming melody above the hustle and bustle of the ever growing town on the shores of the mainland as they sun turned he sky to fire. And she just thought about them, letting the memories of them flow through her.

The memories of the two she had lost.

She looked around at the things remaining on the island that reminded her of those two lost friends. The bent palm tree of the lookout point, the small shed they built to hold their wooden swords and raft supplies, and the paopu tree that had slowly started dying over the years, but always seemed to produce one or two pieces of tricolored fruit. All of this reminded her of them. She could almost see Sora running down the dock to meet her; Riku following in a casual walk behind him with his silver hair almost glowing in the fiery sunlight.

How she wished they were here.

After their last adventure, she had been forced to come home alone despite the promise they had made to one another. The two had gone into their final battle with Xemnas, but they never came back out. The world began to collapse around them and King Mickey had to force her to leave without her boys. Once again, her friends slipped through her fingers. Once again, she returned home alone.

Except this time she didn't know where they were or if they were alive.

She spent a lot of time on their island after that, trying to stay connected with her best friends; worried she would forget them like she had Sora two years ago. She didn't forget them though, and for that she was happy; however, her mind started playing tricks on her. Every once in a while, if she was on the island at dusk, the light would make her think she caught glimpses of blue eyes, black and yellow shoes, or silver hair. That hurt her more than she could bear, believing for a second they were back only for them to be gone when she finally looked for them. She eventually couldn't stand it any longer and ceased her tips to the island.

Kari wasn't the only one who noticed the boys' absence though. The town, after regaining their memories of Sora, realized the two boys had been missing for over three years. Sora's mother believed her boy would still come back while Riku's mother believed him to be dead, falling into a deep depression and locking herself away from the world. Everyone else believed that the boys had died trying to use the raft they had built; drowning when that terrible storm hit the island.

The local kids began going out to the island at night to see if they could see the ghosts of the boys, believing them to be stuck in this world while they waited for Kairi to join them. Or so the new urban myth went. It became a fun game to dare your friends to spend the night on the island, that was, until Wakka and Tidus came back one night, shaking with tears running down their faces as they rowed frantically to shore.

"We saw it!" yelled Tidy, arms flailing as he pointed to the island fading in the dark of night. "He…he…"

"He was there on the beach!" cried Wakka, curling into a ball while they became surrounded by concerned and curious onlookers.

"What happened?" asked Kari, squatting down to look at her friend.

"He was there!" screamed Wakka. "Sofie challenged us to go to the island to see if they came, it being the solstice and all, ya? We were just watching the sun go down when…he just appeared! Sittin' on the shoreline like he was watching the sunset too!"

"Who, Wakka?"

"Sora!"

Kari was taken aback. "Your eyes were probably just playing a trick on you."

"No!" said Tidus. "We were sitting on one of the logs on the beach line. The sun went down over the horizon and BAM! He just faded in for a few seconds before disappearing again."

"So there's really a ghost out there?!" cried one of the local teenagers.

The pair could only nod their heads.

After that, Kairi started going out to the island again, realizing that no one else dared to go out there. Parents forbid their kids from going to the island and others were afraid to. Many warned Kairi not to go either as they believed he was waiting to take her with him. Others told her tit was unhealthy for her to fall for these delusions, that her friends were gone and they weren't coming back; in person or in spirit.

The first moth, people tired to convince her not to go. The next, her own mother tried preventing her from taking trips to the island by taking her boat. After that, people thought it was a phase and she would stop when her heart finally healed from her loss. Finally after a year, it became a town ritual to see her walk down to the docks and take her boat across the water. The townspeople actually began to worry if her boat was docked at the mainland at dusk.

After ten years of this, plenty of stories had been told about why she went to the island each evening. Some said that she was a witch conducting spells during the witching hour, while others whisper rumor that she actually killed Sora and Riku and was visiting their graves each night. Some others simply said that she couldn't move on from missing her best friend and the man she loved, simply going out there to keep their memories alive. Others just said she is crazy.

Kairi looked at the horizon; the sun was just about set. It was almost time. She got up and brushed the sand from her jeans before walking to the proper place, marked with a stick she posted in the ground, and she waited. The light slowly faded away, the sun dipping farther and farther behind the water. She turned to watch it go and just before it disappeared, she turned back. A smile crept onto her face as she watched them materialized before her eyes.

Her boys.

As they appeared, she couldn't help but think back to the first time they had done this. She had watched for days, figuring out when Sora would appear and where. The first time she saw him, she gasped, tears filling her eyes as the dying sunlight danced on his hazy image. The next night, he appeared in the same spot, but this time he was talking with her silver-haired friend, and she openly cried. Wherever they were, they were together. They weren't alone this time.

When she finally figured out their pattern, she decided to get closer, be able to see their faces as they always seemed to be watching the sunset. She walked out into the water in front of their usual spot and waited. As soon as the sun started to completely set, they materialized before her. She wondered if they could see her too and received her answer when the boys jumped up in excitement and disbelief.

"Kairi!" yelled Sora, standing by a shocked Riku.

"How did you get in the Realm of Darkness?" asked Riku, concern lacing every word.

"I didn't," she gasped through the tears welling in her eyes.

The boys began to fade then, leaving her alone again. "No, Kairi! Wait!" called Sora, reaching out his hand, but before he could reach her, he completely disappeared. The tears finally released, running down her face as she laughed and cried at the same time. She could see her boys again and she did, nearly every night for the next ten years.

And tonight was no different. She watched them appear and put out her hand, holding it up where Sora's was materializing. When she felt the heat appear, she curled her fingers effectively wrapping her hand around his.

"Morning, Kairi," giggled Sora in his usual greeting.

"Evening, Sora," she chuckled in return. "Hi, Riku."

"Hey, you," he retuned.

It was days like today, days spent in remembrance, that she realized that what was happening was real, because just as she had grown, so had her two friends. Both growing from the boys she knew to the men that stood before her now. Riku had become much taller, towering over Sora and herself, his body still as solidly lithe as it had been 10 years ago. His hair had grown some, held back in a low ponytail though his long bangs still hid his bright eyes.

Sora had also grown taller, stopping only a few inches above Kairi. His hair had been cut shorter, no longer the mass it was when they were kids. He though, unlike Riku, had grown in muscle mass, his chest broadening a little and his biceps becoming more noticeable. The two had become men right before her very eyes.

"I wish you two were here," she said.

"I know, but we can't. Not yet," Sora responded.

"We need to help keep the balance," said Riku.

"I know," she sighed. "Will you be able to come back one day?"

"We don't know," said Riku, sadness edging his words.

"But if we can, we'll find a way," said Sora with a smile.

She knew what she wanted to do and knew there was little time to do it. She pulled a paopu out of her bag, the only one that had grown all year, careful not to break any of the pieces off. "Here," she said presenting the tricolored fruit, "take a piece."

Sor reached forward without hesitation, grabbing one of the green pieces and waiting for the other to follow suit, his telltale goofy smile spread across his face. Riku on the other hand hesitated, not moving a muscle. "Kairi…"

"Please Riku."

"This is something for you and Sora to share," he said.

"No," she said sternly, yet softly. "Paopu doesn't seal people together like that. It binds out destinies together, that's all. I love Sora, but you are part of my destiny too. I won't do this without you."

"Yeah Riku," said Sora. "Our destinies are one, let's make it official. Honestly, I'm surprised we didn't do this sooner."

Riku couldn't help but shake his head at his friends, a grin donning on his face as he quickly moved forward grabbing a piece of the colorful fruit. Kairi looked at the pair, Riku with his red piece and Sora with his green, and decided to take a piece of the final color, blue. The two began to fade as they ate their pieces of paopu together, smiles plastering their faces. "Now it's official," said Sora, his voice slightly echoing.

"Can't get rid of us now," chuckled Riku.

"Wouldn't want to," smiled Kairi. "See you tomorrow." The boys gave her a wave before they completely disappeared from sight.

And she would be back the next day, because it was during that time, when the line between the Realms of Light and Darkness blurred; that beings from both sides could see each other. For those few moments, the worlds were one and she could be with her friends, the most important people in her life. She knew they were probably never coming back, protecting the world of Light in the Realm of Darkness, but she hoped they would. She would wait for them and live for these few moments each day for rest of her life. Because the man of Darkness had always been there to protect her in the shadows, The Keyblade Master had loved her more than any man ever could, and the Princess of Light was as loyal to those she loved as anyone could be. For that reason, not even separate dimensions could keep them apart.

The footprints in the sand where the two men had just been proved that.

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Nothing too special, but it was something I really wanted to write. By the way, I also write Digimon fanfic so do you know how hard it was to write Kairi instead of Kari? Sorry if some of those snuck in there.

Let me know what you think, constructive criticism is always welcome. I want to be a better writer. I know some of the details are skewed, but I never played anything beyond KH2, so I might be off.

Anyway, thank you for reading!


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